1. Field of the Invention
The invention provides a novel class of compounds, pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds and methods of using such compounds to treat or prevent diseases or disorders associated with abnormal or deregulated kinase activity, particularly diseases or disorders that involve abnormal activation of B-Raf.
2. Background
The protein kinases represent a large family of proteins, which play a central role in the regulation of a wide variety of cellular processes and maintaining control over cellular function. A partial, non-limiting, list of these kinases include: receptor tyrosine kinases such as platelet-derived growth factor receptor kinase (PDGF-R), the nerve growth factor receptor, trkB, Met, and the fibroblast growth factor receptor, FGFR3; non-receptor tyrosine kinases such as Abl and the fusion kinase BCR-Abl, Lck, Csk, Fes, Bmx and c-src; and serine/threonine kinases such as B-Raf, sgk, MAP kinases (e.g., MKK4, MKK6, etc.) and SAPK2α, SAPK2β and SAPK3. Aberrant kinase activity has been observed in many disease states including benign and malignant proliferative disorders as well as diseases resulting from inappropriate activation of the immune and nervous systems.
The novel compounds of this invention inhibit the activity of B-Raf or mutant forms thereof (for example V600E) and are, therefore, expected to be useful in the treatment of B-Raf-associated diseases.